UFO - Force It (1975) (Remaster Edit 2007)

UFO - Force It (1975) (Remaster Edit 2007)

Michael Schenker and Phil Mogg really started to find their groove as a songwriting team with their second album together (and fourth UFO release overall), Force It. In fact, the last remaining folk and space rock tendencies that had stolen much of Phenomenon's thunder are summarily abandoned here, as the group launches itself wholeheartedly toward the hard rock direction that would make them stars. The first step is taken by Schenker, of course, who confidently establishes the aggressive, biting guitar tone that would define all the releases of the band's glory years. "Let It Roll" and "Shoot Shoot" kick off the album in rousing fashion, and while holding them under a microscope might reveal them as rather disposable slabs of hard rock, they would remain concert favorites for the band nonetheless. The punchy single "Love Lost Love" sounds tailor-made for the American market and acoustic ballad "High Flyer" is quite good, despite taking a dip in energy. But things only really start to gell on the album's second half. Schenker and Mogg wheel out their most mature composition yet with the piano-led "Out in the Street," whose softer sections truly highlight Mogg's highly disciplined, understated vocal style and make the guitar player's more restrained soloing all the more memorable. Schenker is soon back in charge, however, on the stuttering riffs and blistering fretboard work of "Mother Mary" and the downright vicious stop-start strut of "This Kids" -- both UFO anthems. One of the band's best albums, Force It will not disappoint lovers of '70s English hard rock...E. Riva

320 @
150 MB

Tracklist:

01 Let It Roll 3.57
02 Shoot Shoot 3.39
03 High Flyer 4.08
04 Love Lost Love 3.21
05 Out In The Street 5.18
06 Mother Mary 3.49
07 Too Much Of Nothing 4.02
08 Dance Your Life Away 3.35
09 The Kid's/ Between The Walls 6.17
10 A Million Miles (Bonus) 4.49
11 Mother Mary (Bonus) 4.04
12 Out In The Streets (Bonus) 5.12
13 Shoot Shoot (Bonus) 3.48
14 Let It Roll (Bonus) 4.59
15 This Kid's (Bonus) 4.19

UFO - No Heavy Petting (1976) (Remaster Edit 2008)

UFO - No Heavy Petting (1976) (Remaster Edit 2008)

Following the breakout success of Phenomenon and Force It, UFO had finally ascended to the first division of British hard rock. And after hiring a second guitarist and keyboard player in Danny Peyronnel, Schenker and Mogg led the group back into the studio to record their fifth album, No Heavy Petting. A noticeably cautious effort, Petting stuck so close to the rules laid down by Force It that all the excitement of the band's performance wound up slipping through the cracks. Gutsy opener "Natural Thing" was competent enough to become a concert regular, but lukewarm material like "Can You Roll Her" and "Reasons Love" simply added nothing new. And bass player Pete Way didn't help things any with his only contribution, the plodding, amazingly dull "On With the Action." Even the album's best moment, the beautifully executed "I'm a Loser" (which unleashes Schenker for one of his most jaw-dropping solos ever), mimics Force It's "Out in the Street" before closing with a piano pattern straight out of progressive rockers Kansas' "No One Together." The overly dramatic "Belladonna" (complete with synthesizer-simulated harpsichord), on the other hand, is mostly a casualty of time; the kind of ballad that was effective enough in its time, but simply hasn't aged well. Thankfully, UFO would rebound in spades the following year, delivering their best all-around studio effort, Lights Out. [The 2008 edition included bonus tracks.]...E. Rivadavia

320 @
127 MB

Line-up:

Phil Mogg - vocals
Andy Parker - drums
Danny Peyronel - keyboards
Michael Schenker - guitar
Pete Way - bass

Tracklist:

01 Natural Thing 4:00
02 I'm a Loser 3:55
03 Can You Roll Her 2:58
04 Belladonna 4:32
05 Reasons Love 3:17
06 Highway Lady 3:49
07 On with the Action 5:03
08 A Fool in Love 2:50
09 Martian Landscape 5:11
10 All or Nothing previously unreleased / Bonus 3:30
11 French Kisses previously unreleased / Bonus 3:07
12 Have You Seen Me Lately Joan previously unreleased / Bonus 4:00
13 Do It If You Can previously unreleased / Bonus 3:17
14 All the Strings previously unreleased / Bonus 5:58

mirror 1

mirror 2